SOL 26 of 31 -- Cottage Cheese & Crackers

Lately, I've been craving a snack at bedtime.  I start thinking about it as the evening winds down.  What will I have for a snack tonight?  What could I have that is dairy-free?  How about hummus?  Maybe peanuts and raisins.  Maybe I won't need a bedtime snack tonight.  If I can't think of a healthy snack that sounds good to eat, perhaps I'm not really hungry.

At this point, I'm not hungry at all.  I still feel entirely full from dinner.  I feed the cats, finish the dishes in the sink, look over my schedule for tomorrow, shower, and sit down to write.  In the back of my mind, I start visualizing cottage cheese and crackers.  My mouth waters ever so slightly, but I can ignore it while I write.

About the time I'm done writing, my stomach wakes up.  Yeah, I think I'm hungry.  Cottage cheese and crackers is the only thing that I want to eat. Not baby carrots--too crunchy.  Not a banana--too sweet.  I only want cottage cheese and crackers.

I remember that it was my mother's parents who introduced me to this snack about thirty years ago.  Whenever we got together with them (which was maybe once/year), we had cottage cheese, Saltine crackers and tomato juice at 5:00--exactly one hour before dinner.  It was our hors d'oeuvres.  At our house, we ate it in our family room, in front of the TV while watching 3-2-1-Contact on PBS.  Or,  at their house in Florida, we ate it  at their dining room table while gazing out the front window at their quiet, sunny neighborhood.

Now, as an adult, after the house has quieted for the night, you can find me standing at the kitchen counter eating cottage cheese and Triscuits.  No need to dirty any serving spoons or dishes.  Just eat directly from the container. I'm sure to eat only a few crackers and quickly put the lid on the cottage cheese.  I've got to save it for my daughter, who often eats this for one snack-meal each day.  Sometimes, though, I take the lid off again and eat just one more cracker.  And sometimes just one more.

Finally satisfied, I can head upstairs to bed, my day complete.